Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"Smith, Joseph Fielding
History
Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"
Smith, Joseph Fielding
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- History
In December, the legislature of Missouri appropriated two thousand
dollars "to be distributed among the people of Daviess and Caldwell
Counties." The "good" people of Daviess were very "generous" and felt
that they could do without their portion of this appropriation, and
let it be given to the people of Caldwell. They could well afford to
do such a thing, for they had robbed the "Mormon" people of nearly all
they possessed. They had ransacked their homes and carried off their
household furniture and goods, and otherwise enriched themselves at
the expense of the Saints who had dwelt among them. This sum, so it
was pretended, was distributed among the people in Caldwell. Judge
Cameron and others attended to the "distribution." The way they did
it was to drive off the hogs belonging to the "Mormons" and shoot
them, and without further bleeding, cut them up and deliver them to
the Saints, at four or five cents a pound. They also "gave them a few
calicos," and the "sweepings of an old store," charging them an extra
price for the goods, and thus was the "munificient" sum of two thousand
dollars distributed among the "Mormons." Later the same legislature
appropriated two hundred thousand dollars to pay the troops for their
work in driving the "Mormons" from the state. In this manner were law
and justice administered in Missouri in the years 1838 and 1839.
Extent of "Mormon" Losses
The total value of the property destroyed in Missouri, which belonged
to the Saints, is beyond our knowledge. It was estimated to be not
less than two million dollars, from the time they first settled in
that state until their expulsion. About twelve hundred members of the
Church were driven from Jackson County in 1833, and all their property
was lost to them. When again they were forced to leave Clay County,
though they went peaceably at the request of the other citizens, they
left behind them a vast amount of property for which no remuneration
was ever received. When they were expelled from the state in the winter
of 1838-9, the Saints numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand
souls. All their property, except the little they were able to gather
hastily and carry with them, was either destroyed or stolen by their
enemies. In the appeal made to Congress and the President of the United
States, in 1839, the amount of their losses was estimated at two
million dollars. Claims against Missouri for the losses were presented
to Congress in the sum of $1,381,044.00, and this represented only
491 individuals; many others who lost property, entered no claims for
damages against that state.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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